Jonathan Toews worked hard to become an everyday NHLer again

One of the big stories of the off-season was the return of two-time Stanley Cup champion center Jonathan Toews to the NHL.

The former Chicago Blackhawks captain, after missing years tending to health issues, signed a contract to play for his hometown Winnipeg Jets, who desperately needed help down the middle as they looked to continue to push for a Stanley Cup championship.

While the season hasn’t gone the way the Jets would have hoped for, as they’re on the outside looking in at the Western Conference playoff picture, Toews has played in all of the team’s games to this point.

On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed how impressive it is that Toews has managed to maintain his availability all season.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Let’s stick with the theme of giving out stick taps, because I wanted to give some love to a guy who’s kind of flown under the radar this season, no pun intended, but with all of the health struggles and everything Jonathan Toews went through, I know this year didn’t go the way the Winnipeg Jets wanted to and statistically he didn’t jump off the page or anything like that, but Jonathan Toews is on pace to play all 82 games this year with the Winnipeg Jets at 37 years old. After taking three years away from the NHL, two full seasons I guess you could call it, man, I think that’s just really impressive. And it’s a storyline that not enough people are talking about, that Jonathan Toews has found a way to just get himself back to being an everyday NHL player.

Carter Hutton: Yeah. Consistently, right, being available to play and compete, and I know expectations were very high for him, but that being said, to be able to compete in almost every single game… in like which it looks like he’s going to finish all 82, score 10 goals, 17 assists. He could be a good depth add. It will be interesting to see where his contract lies if he wants to continue playing next year. If it is Winnipeg or somebody else, but that being said, credit to him. I know he always took such good care of himself and how much he focuses on fitness and diet, nutrition, everything that goes into being a constant player. To do it at his age is very impressive.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…